Emcore acquires Agere's West Coast opto business
Agere s West Coast optoelectronics group is located in Alhambra and Irwindale, CA, consists primarily of the assets, personnel and operations of Ortel Corporation, which Lucent Technologies acquired in April 2000 in stock-based deal worth $2.95 billion. In October 2002, Agere sold the bulk of its optoelectronics business to TriQuint.
Emcore estimates this business will have revenue of between $30 - $40 million for the Fiscal Year ending September 30, 2003. As part of the agreement, 215 of the 230 Agere employees will join Emcore. Agere was to have exited the Irwindale facility by the end of March, and Emcore is to continue with that consolidation into the Alhambra facility. Emcore will now lease the Alhambra site operate it as Ortel, a division of Emcore.
"We are very excited about this acquisition and the growth opportunities it creates for our company," said Reuben Richards, Emcores president and CEO. “This business complements our current portfolio of solutions for high-speed data and telecommunications networking systems, and allows us to extend our leadership into a new market area. We are committed to helping our customers realize the full potential of the ‘triple play’ in voice, data and video applications and intend to expand our existing portfolio of digital optoelectronic products to assist our customers in deploying fiber to the home and office."
